


waiting for the end

by parkified



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-06
Updated: 2017-07-06
Packaged: 2018-11-28 11:55:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11417427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/parkified/pseuds/parkified
Summary: killer!xiumin somehow lets an invisible prostitute get under his skin and into his heart





	1. [i/iii]

**hello! warning: this first chapter is written embarrassingly bad and cliché as i wrote it after watching a kdrama, but the following chapters are much better, i promise. i would just like to apologize in advance for this chapter.**  
  
  
[i/iii]  
  
  
At the end of the hallway he waited, his hands tight around the blade. His wide eyes glistened against the light creeping slowly into the hallway. The other was awake—getting a drink of water no doubt. His intruder lied in wait, watching him slowly shuffle into the kitchen and feel around sluggishly, until he felt the knob to the wooden cabinet and opened it, pulling out a glass. From there he found the refrigerator and poured himself some water. His intruder watched, with tentative precision, the bob of his Adam's apple as he downed the glass. The boy set the glass down, sighing as his mouth was no longer dry and begging for water.  
  
He leaned back on the counter momentarily before crossing his arms.  
  
"Xiumin... come out," he said.  
  
The intruder straightened, his grip on the knife loosening then tightening on instinct.  
  
"I know you're there. I told you—"  
  
Xiumin stepped out from the hallway into the dim light of the refrigerator. The light reflected onto Luhan's tired—but still somehow beautiful—face. He wanted to drop his knife, but he couldn't.  
  
"I told you..." Luhan repeated, looking him in the eyes, the eyes he knew all too well. "You can't hurt me. You love me too much."  
  
There, Luhan's back slammed into the counter behind him, the knife pressed against his throat.  
  
"Says who? Is it written in stone? I want to see it so I can smash it into a million pieces just like you broke me," he spit the words out like fire, his eyes wild. His anger worked as a great mask for covering the pain he held inside.  
  
"I did nothing," Luhan said calmly, unscathed by the elder's words. "You broke yourself. Get off me."  
  
He pressed the blade harder into Luhan's throat, threatening the skin there to break. At a feather's touch, he'd be bleeding all over. So why couldn't Xiumin press a little harder?  
  
"I didn't..." Xiumin trailed off. "Really, what do you know? You're just a whore."  
  
Luhan smiled with a type of satisfaction only seen on the most sinister of faces. "I am. I'm smart. No one ever listens to a whore. No one cares about a whore. Any whore off the street could die and no one would notice. And yet, I'm out in plain sight. I'm the best kind of spy."  
  
"Spy?" Xiumin lifted a brow, pressing closer to the boy before him, the space between their chests growing scarce. "Spy for what?"  
  
"What does it matter? I know what you do. You kill people. It thrills you. I watch people. It thrills me."  
  
The older boy stepped back, releasing the former. His weapon slipped through his fingers to the ground, bouncing off until finally resting still.  
  
He which previously held the weapon bore deep holes in Luhan's eyes, his demeanor now changed completely. Almost defeated.  
  
"How can you say that without even a flinch? How can you calmly tell me I'm a killer?"  
  
Luhan looked away before he could think about it. "Well, it's kind of just a fact. I haven't actually seen you kill. Just like you haven't actually seen me hop into a car with some stranger, right?"  
  
The thought alone almost made him shiver.  
  
"Come with me," Xiumin growled, pulling the boy's arm. To his surprise, the younger boy did not reject, only followed silently out the back door to the road and began walking.  
  
It was past midnight and the temperature was dropping fast.  
  
"I'm cold," Luhan stated, bundling in on himself. It had been almost fifty degrees and he was just in his rope and slippers, not really minding the cold nipping at his toes.  
  
Xiumin on the other hand was dressed in all black, his hoodie and skinny jeans absorbing all light from the moon above them.  
  
"Give me your jacket," Luhan said expectantly, giving the other boy a once-over.  
  
"Why, so I can be cold, too?" Xiumin shook his head, hands going instinctively into his pockets as a result of the cold winter air.  
  
Luhan scoffed, patting the other boys arm. "Give it to me. I'm freezing."  
  
"Then what do I do?"  
  
"Be proud you helped someone out for once."  
  
Xiumin stood in sidewalk, considering the tone in Luhan's voice. It wasn't one of judgement, but rather a kind of encouragement.  
  
Be proud.  
  
They kept walking, Xiumin rubbing his bare arms to create heat as Luhan curled into his hoodie.  
  
  
  
\|/  
  
  
  
They snuck through the back of an apartment complex, stopping only so Xiumin could pick the lock of the backdoor.  
  
"How do you know you won't trigger an alarm?" Luhan murmured, still shivering despite wearing the elder's hoodie.  
  
The latter didn't answer, only pulled open the door.  
  
"Give me your shoe," he whispered, holding open the door.  
  
"Why?" Luhan pressed, stepping back.  
  
"The door automatically locks every time it's closed. We won't have enough time to get out if I have to unlock it again."  
  
"We... _what_?" Luhan asked, the tops of his brows raising.  
  
"Just do it, Han," Xiumin instructed. "We're on time. As soon as we step in the building."  
  
"Just what are we—"  
  
Xiumin kicked the calf of Luhan's leg, the younger boy cradling it instinctively in return. As his foot swung in the air, Xiumin swiftly took his slipper and left it as a doorstop between the door and its frame.  
  
"What the—"  
  
"We have five minutes," Xiumin annouced, pulling the injured boy inside. "Don't make a sound."  
  
Inside they were greeted by several cases of steps going up and down. They climbed two staircases up before Xiumin opened the door to a hallway.  
  
"Four minutes," he whispered, hurrying down the hallway, Luhan just a hair's breadth away. The younger was confused and in pain, but said nothing. He just followed carefully, arm linked with his elder.  
  
They reached the end of the hallway to a room and Luhan wondered how many times Xiumin had been there before.  
  
With the precision of a military general, Xiumin unlocked the door and pushed it open. The two were met with a cold chill, probably that of an air conditioner.  
  
"Xiu—"  
  
The older boy turned around, giving Luhan a warning look. One that truly caused Luhan's heartbeat to rise. He looked away quickly, following Xiumin inside.  
  
They shuffled through the apartment quietly until they reached a room, light glowing through the space beneath the door.  
  
Luhan pulled on Xiumin's shirt, not sure as to whether they should enter. Despite that fear, he was sort of shaking with anticipation. Part of him wanted to run away and the other part wanted to stay and watch it all unfold. By that point he figured what was going to happen.  
  
Xiumin ignored the tug at his shirt and opened the door. Luhan found himself stuck in place as the room revealed a pair of lovers in the process of making love, only to stop and gasp when Xiumin barged in.  
  
"Xiumin?! What are you—" one of them asked, pulling the duvet over their chest, only to be cut off by Xiumin's voice.  
  
"9-1-1? Yes, please come here quick. Someone's in my apartment... I think he has a gun!" Xiumin spoke into a phone that Luhan didn't know he had. He hung up, stuffing the phone back into his pocket.  
  
One of the two in bed slowly sat up, already looking past Luhan out the door. He was devising a plan, and Xiumin already knew it.  
  
"Listen, we don't want any—"  
  
 _Bam_.  
  
A single shot through the head ceased his words and sent him lying flat on the bed, blood beginning to pool around him and his partner.  
  
"Chen!" the other boy screamed, face red and tears already flowing. "What did you do?!"  
  
"Me? What about you? You think you can steal money from me? Do you think I'm a fucking idiot?" Xiumin yelled, approaching the shaking boy the bed.  
  
"No! I needed it! I was going to pay you back!" the boy screamed, eyes begging Xiumin to forgive him.  
  
Luhan's breath hitched as he heard approaching police sirens. Even still, he was stuck, unable to move, and was all too invested in the scene before him.  
  
"Yeah?! How are you gonna pay me back when you're dead? Huh, Suho? Tell me that."  
  
The boy's eyes widened, absolute fear taking over him. "No, you can't. Why do you think I'm in bed right now? I'm getting your money!"  
  
The sirens grew louder as the police approached the building.  
  
"Xiumin..." Luhan managed to say, seeing the blue and red lights start to flash through the curtains of the room's windows.  
  
"It's too late now," Xiumin told him, pulling out another knife. One already stained with blood.  
  
"No... No, please!" Suho screamed, trying to push Xiumin away.  
  
"Say 'hi' to Chen for me," Xiumin said before slashing the blade across Suho's neck. He watched the light leave the hooker's eyes before quickly pulling Luhan out the door. The rest happened in quick flashes before Luhan could process.  
  
Stairs.  
Door.  
Sirens.  
Lights.  
Bushes.  
Sidewalk.


	2. [ii/iii]

**same disclaimer; this fic dances between serious and not serious :-) although this parts pretty serious.. oops  
*trigger warning***

  
  
The image of red flowing down lifeless faces burned itself into Luhan's mind as he walked the road with Xiumin. The sight of Suho's uncontrollable fear vanished by a slit to the throat into one of dull, lightless eyes. Chen's determination ceased by a single shot through the skull. He hoped they were at peace.  
  
Xiumin uttered not a single word, only kept his eyes trained on the street ahead of them, his hands stuffed in his pockets to keep warm.  
  
Luhan gradually slowed his pace before stopping completely to take off the aphotic hoodie he was wearing before handing it over to the boy in front of him.  
  
"What are you doing?" Xiumin inquired, looking over the fabric.  
  
"I'm not cold anymore," Luhan said simply, moving his feet again. The heat that spread through his body upon seeing Chen's body shoot back against the headboard was more than enough to fight the cold outdoors.  
  
Xiumin was skeptical but slipped the material back over his head anyway. As he walked alongside Luhan he realized the younger boy had no idea who those people were or why they'd just accomanied each other in murder in the middle of a Thursday night.  
  
"Suho and I work togetherㅡor, well, used to," he explained, trying to ignore the barely contained shock riddling Luhan's face. "He isㅡwasㅡan exotic dancer. On the side, he got me clients. When your father is a top CEO in one of Korea's biggest manufacturing companies, you have connections to some pretty ruthless men. But yesterday I found out Suho had been stealing some of the profits to pay off a debt. Because we were close I gave him a day to fess up but he didn't."  
  
Luhan breathed deeply through his nose, the image of blood cooling out Suho's neck flashing in his mind. He pushed it aside to say, "If his father is a CEO, why is he stealing money?"  
  
"His father despises him," Xiumin explained. "Ever since he came out as gay his father cut him off completely. That's why he dances. Or danced..."  
  
"He's dead, I get it," Luhan muttered, red flashing in his head every time he blinked.  
  
Xiumin nodded, a slight smile playing at the corners of his lips. "It's a shame. He was my best friend. Only friend, really."  
  
Luhan swallowed, sending the older boy a quick glance. For the first time he'd felt threatened by him. Genuinely spooked.  
  
"Why... why not just hear him out? Why'd you have to go to such lengths just to prove a point? I mean, now you're not getting your money back."  
  
Then Xiumin really smiled. "It's the principal. Like with you." He pointed to the boy beside him.  
  
"Principal? I'm a principal?"  
  
"Suho was a good friend of mine and we had a mutual trust and respect for each other. He could have easily told me he was in money troubles and I would have helped. But instead he chose not to see me that way and decided to go behind my back and steal from me. Do I care about the money? No. I care about the fact that he didn't see me as enough to confide in. He knew he wasn't dying for the money. He knew exactly why he just got what he did," Xiumin shook his head briefly before looking to Luhan. "You, on the other hand… you make me so confused about myself and I am someone who knows myself very well; I do not like being confused or unsure about anything. But you... you make me feel like hiding my knives and reconsidering everything I enjoyㅡwhich is not much. You actually amuse me and take my mind away from this career I have. But, you don't seem to feel the same about me anymore. And normally I would just say 'fuck it' and kill you but I can't and it disgusts me. I can't hurt you. You mean something, but I don't know what. I can't do anything unless I know."  
  
"You're always so very sweet," Luhan mumbled, turning a corner with the other boy.  
  
"See, like that," Xiumin pointed out. "I tell you personal things and you respond sarcastically and without feeling. No one talks to me like that. Why do you do that?"  
  
"Because no one is more unscared of you than I am."  
  
"And what makes you so special?" Xiumin asked, his voice echoing throughout the sleeping neighborhood.  
  
"You haven't touched me yet, have you?" Luhan responded, finally looking in Xiumin's direction. He saw the frustration sitting in his features and couldn't help but chuckle at the poor confused boy.  
  
"But I have," Xiumin said. "I've threatened you and even held a knife up to your throat. And yet you still remain unscathed?"  
  
"Xiumin," Luhan shook his head. "Your threats are just thatㅡthreats. You think you're the first guy to threaten me? Do you know what line of work I'm in?"  
  
"That's different. Those men are horny, frustrated pigs."  
  
"You get horny," Luhan shrugged. "You get frustrated. One would argue that you're a pig."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"Oh, I don't know... you find joy and relaxation in killing people?"  
  
"Alright, there's that but I don't pay for sex or cheat on whoever I'm committed to. I didn't even think about cheating on you."  
  
"Hm," Luhan hummed, his lips pressing together.  
  
"I know you still saw guys behind my back," Xiumin admitted, turning his gaze away from the brown-haired boy.  
  
"Y-Youㅡ"  
  
"I knew all along," Xiumin nodded. "I just didn't want to make a scene. It's your career afterall."  
  
For whatever reason, Luhan felt shyness tugging his sleeve upon hearing the words. He felt touched that Xiumin knew he snuck away to his clients but never reacted on it. Perhaps he knew Luhan was all his despite his prostituting himself.   
  
But that was all over now.  
  
"Thanks," Luhan mumbled, feeling himself shrink a bit. Thankfully, they'd rounded back to his apartment and stood outside his door.  
  
"No need to thank me," Xiumin shrugged, half as a response, half because of the cold. "I'll see you." He turned away before Luhan's voice stopped him.  
  
"Thank you... for tonight."  
  
He tilted his head to look at the boy.  
  
"Let's... do that again sometime."  
  
Xiumin's brows pulled together, confusion written between the creases of his skin. "You want to do this again? For real?"  
  
Luhan slowly nodded his head, lips pursed together. "I finally got to see first hand what you do."  
  
"Well," Xiumin shrugged. "That one was easy because it was just Suho. My other clients require more time, caution, and precision."  
  
Luhan smiled shyly, his hand moving inadvertently to hairs on his neck. "Well, I have time.. and patience."  
  
"Not so much for me, though," Xiumin slipped, biting his lip when he realized he'd let the words escape him.  
  
"Good night, Minseok," Luhan sighed, turning into his apartment building. The other boy found himself stuck in his tracks for the first time in his life as Luhan disappeared behind the metal doors.  
  
Minseok.  
  
No one called him that for years.  
  
\|/  
  
"Did you see this?" Luhan heard as soon as he stepped foot on the street corner. It was early in the morning but more customers lined up then than most thought.  
  
In front of him was his "co-worker" Baekhyun, holding up a newspaper. His body was wrapped in tight clothing, his eyelids drowned in black eyeliner, his black hair rested flatly just over his eyes.  
  
Luhan took the newspaper and read the headlining news.  
  
"Go Industries CEO Kim Jun Hye's youngest son found dead in apartment less than twenty-four hours ago." The paper bore an image of Suho's father shaking hands with the president as well as an outdated image of Suho presumably in high school.  
  
"It's crazy," Baekhyun shook his head. "If you read it says his throat was slit open and some other guy was found dead next to him too. They don't say who or how he died but the police suspect murder and are opening an investigation. Crazy... Some people are even suggesting his father arranged this. Did you hear the 9-1-1 call?"  
  
"N-No.." Luhan swallowed, handing back the newspaper. He thought he'd have better control over himself but the whole situation made him nervousㅡespecially with the CEO of Go Industries involved.  
  
"Well it was weird," Baekhyun touched his chin, contemplating the call. "No one knows what that Suho guy sounded like, but a lot of people are saying the voice on the call was too high to be his. And in the call he says that there's someone in his apartment, but Suho wasn't registered there; The building has no record of him. Maybe it was the apartment of the guy he was with… I really don't feel right about all this."  
  
"Well what are we supposed to do?" Luhan shrugged, searching his brain for a way to veer off the subject.  
  
"True," Baekhyun chuckled. "But, he looks so familiar… this picture seems old." He stared hard at the newspaper in his hands.  
  
"It is," Luhan slipped out before his eyes widened and he covered his mouth.  
  
"How do you know?" Baekhyun examined the photo, seemingly unaware of Luhan's slip.  
  
"Um," Luhan looked at the picture. "His haircut? No one's had a faux-halk since like 2009."  
  
Baekhyun smiled at the photo. "True. You think they used an old photo for a reason? Maybe so we couldn't recognize how he looks now? Though I'm guessing he doesn't look too good right now..."  
  
Luhan hit his arm. "Let him rest in peace." He swallowed, ghosting memories of blood dripping down skin fogging his mind.  
  
"But really he looks so familiar! Maybe I've seen him on TV doing business for Go..."  
  
Maybe you've seen him at a strip club, Luhan thought.  
  
"Let's just notㅡ" Luhan was interrupted by the sound of a car horn following halting wheels on cement.  
  
"Hello, fellas!" the man in the worn-out car grinned, looking over two boys. "Who wants to accompany me back home this morning?"  
  
If he'd eaten breakfast it would be all over the floor by now, Luhan thought. The man looked like he needed a good shower.  
  
"All yours," he murmured to Baekhyun.  
  
\|/  
  
Luhan checked his watch. It was almost sunset when Baekhyun hopped out of a car and came wobbling towards him, makeup smudged and hair far too messy for his liking.  
  
"Baek?" Luhan called, running over to him. "Are you alright?"  
  
The boy gave him a languid nod, eyes drooping drowsily as he collapsed into Luhan's arms.  
  
"Baek! Stay with me, okay?" he shook the boy before heading towards his home.  
  
\|/  
  
Luhan tucked his friend into his bed, leaving a glass of water on the nightstand and a warm towelette on his forehead. He didn't know what was wrong, but he knew whatever it was, Baekhyun would not have wanted to be sent to the hospital.  
  
As hours passed, Luhan got dinner ready and even left a plate out for his friend, half-expecting it to end up in the fridge. But minutes into his meal, he heard a loud thud in his room.  
  
"Baekhyun?" he called, running into the room. Baekhyun was there, looking around tentatively on the floor.  
  
"Han?!" he replied, looking at his friend who was dressed in comfy silk pajamas despite it being dinner time. "What the..."  
  
"Are you okay?" Luhan asked, moving to pick up his friend and set him down safely on the king-sized bed.  
  
"D-Do you... do you live here?"  
  
Luhan bit his lip before nodding slowly. "I didn't want anyone to know, but... you're not just anyone, are you?"  
  
Baekhyun shrugged shyly, looking around the bedroom he'd concluded as bigger than his entire apartment. "Wow. How... why...."  
  
"I'll talk about that later," Luhan told him. "First you tell me what happened to you."  
  
Baekhyun sighed, touching a hand to his forehead. "It's so fuzzy but.... I think after I got into the car, I started telling them my policies, you know, like no bondage and all that. And suddenly I felt a sharp blow to my head..." Baekhyun massaged the back of his head subconsciously.  
  
"Anything else?" Luhan asked, worry and anger building inside him at once.  
  
"Um..." Baekhyun scanned his lap, ebbing himself to remember. "I remember waking up... It was dark and it smelled really bad, like something was rotting. There was definitely an echo so I know I was somewhere big. But after that—" Baekhyun stopped, a gasp escaping him. "No...."  
  
"What? What is it?" Luhan asked. He saw the look of shame layer Baekhyun's face and he had a feeling he knew what happened.  
  
"They..." Baekhyun trailed, taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes, unable to bare the dirty feeling that came over him. "They tied me up, and took off my clothes... I felt his hands touching me all over...."  
  
"Shh," Luhan stopped him, pulling him into a tight embrace. "You don't have to go on."  
  
"Why'd he let me go?" Baekhyun cried, hugging Luhan back. "Why couldn't he kill me instead?"  
  
\|/  
  
Luhan turned down the volume of the TV as Baekhyun finally fell asleep on his lap. He successfully got the boy to eat and even fall asleep. He didn't know what the story would tell when he woke up, but for now he was just glad his friend was able to calm down.  
  
As he sat there in his couch he felt only anger inside him for the bastard who dared do this to his best friend. His only friend, really.  
  
And he wondered why they let him go. Not that he wasn't happy beyond compare, but why, really, would somebody kidnap and molest someone and then let them go? Was it perhaps because Baekhyun was a prostitute? Did he not think it was rape just because Baekhyun was a prostitute? Did he not think it would matter? Is Baekhyun not a human being?  
  
Luhan slammed his hand against the coffee table, accidentally shaking the sleeping boy in his lap.  
  
"Sorry," he whispered, petting Baekhyun's hair gently. "Shhh...."  
  
The boy lowered his head back down to Luhan's lap and closed his eyes.  
  
"Luhan..." he murmured, his lips barely opening to formulate the sound. "My hip hurts."  
  
"Your hip?" Luhan whispered back, trying to keep the quiet environment quiet. "Did you bump it somewhere?"  
  
"Nnggg," the boy lulled, a pathetic way of deny the question. "It burns."  
  
"Burns?" Luhan questioned. He slowly lowered his eyes to Baekhyun's lower half. There, he carefully lifted up the boys shirt.  
  
He gasped.  
  
"Whaaa...." Baekhyun murmured, lazily lifting his head.  
  
"N-No, no," Luhan told him, patting his head back down. "Get some sleep."  
  
Baekhyun sleepily complied, closing his eyes and drifting away in seconds. Luhan willed himself to stay calm.  
  
\|/  
  
"We're twins," Baekhyun muttered, looking into the full-length mirror before them.  
  
They both stood there, holding up their shirts so that both their lower hips showed. On the lower left corner of each of their hips was a red stamp of an X, scarred in their skin forever. Luhan's was simply a bulging scar, Baekhyun's was fresher, red, and threatening.  
  
"It's him," Luhan replied, staring holes into the mirror. "It's really him."  
  
"X," Baekhyun breathed, looking between their shared scars. "He's back."  
  
"Why didn't I recognize him?" Luhan told himself. "I've been searching for him for a year. Did I really forget his face?"  
  
"A customer's a customer," Baekhyun told him, running his finger along the red intersection in his skin. It stung, but he liked the pain. "You don't think about their face, you think about the money."  
  
"I was so focused on where I'd find him again, I didn't focus on who's face I'd be finding," Luhan shook his head. "I wonder if he recognized me."  
  
"Maybe we're to him what he was to us," Baekhyun suggested. "Just another face."  
  
"No," Luhan shook his head. "He's a messy but articulate psychopath. He probably keeps track of his victims."  
  
Baekhyun's eyes widened at the words.  
  
Luhan looked at him. "Don't worry, he won't take you again. Not while I'm around."  
  
"Does he usually go for round two?"  
  
Luhan shook his head. "He wants his  victims to live their life knowing he claimed them and left his mark. Literally. He wants it to drown them every day until they die."  
  
Baekhyun lowered his shirt. "Well, he fucked with the wrong guys. We're not going to let him affect us, right? If he really keeps track of us then I'm gonna go show that asshole I'm just fine."  
  
Luhan smiled weakly, lowering his shirt, too. "That's good, Baekhyun. You're strong. That's good."  
  
Baekhyun turned to him. "You're strong too, Han. After he took you... you were really calm. I'm proud of you."  
  
Luhan sighed, pulling him in for a hug. Baekhyun hugged back tightly, burying his face in the crook of Luhan's neck.  
  
"We're strong, Han."  
  
\|/  
  
The next morning, to Luhan's great dismay, Baekhyun went off to take the streets.  
  
"Money waits for no one," he'd told him.  
  
Luhan went along although now Baekhyun knew it wasn't for the money. He sat on the curb, sketching like mad, as Baekhyun paced slowly next to him.  
  
"It was so fast," he muttered to himself, drawing the outline of the man's jaw. "I don't even remember... How can I not remember?"  
  
"I only saw his side profile when I talked to him—whoa, you draw good," Baekhyun reveled, looking at the life-like sketch on Luhan's lap.  
  
"A year of practice," Luhan muttered, refining the jaw.  
  
"He wasn't that thin. Not fat, but not skinny," Baekhyun added. "Apart from that I don't remember much. His nose was a little crooked, and he smelled pretty bad. But you can't draw smells.."  
  
"This is as close as I can remember," Luhan sighed, holding up the sketch.  
  
Baekhyun was still, looking at the angled profile of his molester. "Yeah, that's him..."  
  
"His car," Luhan suddenly remembered. "Neither of us has the plates, but do you know what kind of car he had? I know it was pretty beat-down."  
  
Baekhyun shook his head. "I don't know cars well. But I remember my cousin owns a repair shop. I'll ask him and let you know."  
  
Luhan nodded, looking down at his sketch. It was X.  
  
"Man," Baekhyun sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I feel like I'm in a crime drama. This is too weird."  
  
"I'm going to ask around and see if any of the others have seen him before," Luhan said, picking himself up.  
  
A black car pulled up to the two and stopped. Baekhyun headed towards the window.  
  
"Wait," Luhan said, holding his arm. Baekhyun looked at him.  
  
"Be careful."  
  
Baekhyun nodded.  
  
\|/  
  
At night, Luhan escorted Baekhyun home, looking around the block a few times before heading home. When he arrived to his building, however, he was met with a young man sitting in front of the door, hands stuffed in black pockets.  
  
"How long have you been here?" Luhan asked, standing just a few inches in front of him.  
  
"You weren't home," Xiumin said, lifting his head to look at him. "Were you on the job?"  
  
Luhan scoffed. "If I was?"  
  
"You know I don't like that job. I don't like scumbags touching you."  
  
"Do I live to please you?"  
  
"Yes," Xiumin said, standing up. "That's all you do, and I know you love it."  
  
Luhan couldn't help but smirk. "Go home, Minseok."  
  
"Who's X?" Xiumin asked.  
  
Luhan stopped, the half-smile dropping from his face. "How do you—"  
  
"Did you think I was born yesterday?" Xiumin tilted his head. "I know everything, Luhan."  
  
"How did you know?" Luhan demanded, his cheeks tinting red.  
  
"I saw you with Baekhyun yesterday and I was curious. This morning I saw you sketching. You used to sketch all the time when we were...." he trailed. "I was the black car that picked Baekhyun up. He told me everything."  
  
"Why would he—"  
  
"I told him I was an investigator. He was quick to spill everything."  
  
Luhan sighed, rubbing his temple. "Is there anything I can keep from you?"  
  
"Who is X to you?"  
  
Luhan looked around the street, and when he saw nothing, he invited Xiumin inside.  
  
"Come on," Luhan murmured, pulling Xiumin by wrist into the large kitchen. He flicked on a light and took off his jacket.  
  
"He told you about his mark, right?" Luhan asked, setting the jacket on the counter.  
  
"He showed me, yeah."  
  
Luhan lifted up the side of his shirt, revealing the X-shaped scar on his hip.  
  
Xiumin's eyes widened a bit as he took in the sight, exactly the same as Baekhyun's, except not as fresh.  
  
"May I?" he asked, pointing to the scar.  
  
Luhan nodded and Xiumin ran his finger along the scar.  
  
"He brands his victims with an X," Luhan told him. "That's why I call him X. Here," Luhan pulled out the folded sketch in his pocket and handed it to the other boy. "That's as close as I could remember from yesterday."  
  
Xiumin opened up the paper and analyzed the face drawn before him.  
  
"I asked around, no one knew him," Luhan said, crossing his arms over his chest.  
  
"When did he take you?" Xiumin asked, squinting his eyes at the drawing. It looked vaguely familiar.  
  
"A year ago," Luhan told him, looking down at the paper in the other boy's hands.  
  
"A year ago?" Xiumin looked up at him. "You mean when we first started seeing each other?"  
  
"Why do you think I sketched all the time? I was trying to remember."  
  
"So you didn't recognize him yesterday?"  
  
"A year ago I waited on a street corner waiting for my friend to pick me up from a bar. No one was around so he pulled up in an old car and told me to hop in. I told him I was waiting for my friend and he told me my friend sent him. Being as how I was drunk, I believed him and got inside. It smelled so bad.. Next thing I knew I felt a sharp blow to my head and I was out. I woke up in a dark place that absolutely wreaked and when he realized I was awake he did things..." Luhan paused to gather himself. "Then he used something to brand me with this X. I passed out from the pain and woke up on the street corner I met him at. So, no, his face was the last thing I remembered."  
  
Xiumin looked away, folding the sketch back up and slipping it into his pocket. "I'll look into it."  
  
"You don't have to," Luhan told him, blinking away the tears that formed in his eyes.  
  
"I do," Xiumin argued. "I have more connections than you, anyway."  
  
Luhan shrugged, taking a seat at the counter.  
  
"So," Xiumin started. "This little business you have.. it's just to find X?"  
  
Luhan nodded. "I don't actually have sex with anyone. I look around for X. Baekhyun gets all the customers. He actually needs the money. And those clients I snuck away to see? I was just scared I'd miss X if I wasn't there."  
  
Xiumin sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I wish you would've told me sooner."  
  
"Why? So you could find him and be the hero?"  
  
"What?" Xiumin looked at him. "No, Luhan. So I could help you. At least be there for you."  
  
Luhan shook his head, keeping his eyes trained on the counter. "It doesn't matter. You know now."  
  
"Lu," Xiumin said, taking the boy's hand in his. "I'm going to find him and keep my promise to you."  
  
"Promise?" Luhan asked, finally looking to Xiumin's eyes.  
  
"To take you on my next kill."


	3. [iii/iii]

**note: all characters are fictionalized and none of the events that take place in this story are real (as far as i know lol) also there are fake names and places completely made up by yours truly**  
  
  
  
 _"Where you going?" Xiumin asked, turning over to face the boy who'd sat up in the middle of the night.  
  
Luhan was silent as Xiumin turned on the light.  
  
"You alright?" Xiumin asked, slowly becoming more alert.  
  
"I just need some air," Luhan mumbled, wrapping himself in his robe and slipping on his slippers.  
  
"Do you want me to—"  
  
"Just go back to sleep," Luhan told him before slipping out of the room. Xiumin waited.  
  
Luhan wasn't back until morning, walking silently through the front door, hair a mess and eyes rimmed pink.  
  
"There's plenty of air inside," Xiumin remarked silently as he sipped his morning coffee.  
  
"I went for a walk," Luhan told him, shuffling right passed him without sharing their usual morning kiss.  
  
"Does walking always make you cry?"  
  
Luhan stopped momentarily before heading towards the bathroom.  
  
"Han," Xiumin said, grabbing the younger boy's wrist.  
  
"Let go of me," Luhan told him, but didn't take his hand away.  
  
"Tell me," Xiumin said.  
  
"Tell you what?"  
  
"You know what?" Xiumin said, letting go of Luhan's hand. "I can only help if I know what's wrong, and clearly you don't want me to do either."  
  
"How...." Luhan started, turning to face Xiumin, "....can a killer help me?"  
  
Xiumin's eyes widened.  
  
"I followed you," Luhan told him. "I overheard your phone calls. For a hit man you're not so good at being sneaky."  
  
There were no words that Xiumin could say.  
  
"I don't care about it," Luhan explained. "I care that you couldn't tell me."  
  
"How could I tell you?" Xiumin managed to say. "Hey, honey, I kill people for money."  
  
"You kill people for fun."  
  
"That's...." Xiumin started. "It's just a job."  
  
"Don't patronize me, Minseok," Luhan spat, voice sharp. "I'm not stupid. Someone like you wouldn't just take lives as a job. It's a hobby."  
  
"It's an outlet."  
  
"What?"  
  
A sly grin tugged at Xiumin's lips, his shoulders relaxed. "It's an outlet, a release. A passion."  
  
Luhan crossed his arms, squinting slightly at the boy's sudden change in demeanor. He'd already accepted the fact that he'd been caught. He'd already accepted the fact that he'd have to kill him.  
  
Luhan chuckled. "Do I mean that little to you?"  
  
"Why?" Xiumin tilted his head slightly.  
  
"You know my line of work. I've seen that look; you're about to attack."  
  
"Am I an animal? Why would I attack you?"  
  
"Why would you kill innocent people?"  
  
Xiumin frowned. "I don't kill innocent people. I get hired to kill corporate pigs that lie to the country and abuse their power."  
  
"I said before that I'm not stupid," Luhan rebuttled. "You would kill an innocent person."  
  
"Do you mean you?"  
  
"Kill me," Luhan told him. "Go ahead. I know I'm not innocent. I'm just a whore."  
  
Xiumin looked at him, his form hesitant. Luhan looked back before letting out a laugh.  
  
"Can't do it? I'm not surprised."  
  
"What's...." Xiumin trailed, unaware as to why he couldn't step towards the boy.  
  
"What you're feeling is called love," Luhan told him. "You can't kill someone you love."  
  
"I don't love anyone," Xiumin fought back.  
  
"Then kill me," Luhan provoked. "Please. Just kill me."  
  
Xiumin found a hint of sincerity in Luhan's eyes. Some part of him really wanting to die. And it made Xiumin's heart race and his mind blur. The rush of emotions confused him and angered him. He didn't know why he was feeling them or why they inhibited him from pulling out his knife and slashing the boy's throat.  
  
So he slammed the table and rushed out the door._  
  
-  
  
Luhan felt a buzz in his pocket as he received a text message from an unknown number.  
  
 **Park's Bar. 10 minutes. - X**  
  
A sudden rush of adrenaline pumped through Luhan's veins as he read over the text again. Was it really X? How did he get his phone number?  
  
In a flash, he was out the door and running towards the bar.  
  
The neon lights outside the building flickered in letters that spelled out "Park's Bar". It was just after noon so there wouldn't be many people inside. X must have known this.  
  
Luhan pushed the door open before he could stop himself and paused when he saw the boy sitting at a stool, drink in hand.  
  
"Oh good, you're here."  
  
Luhan sighed, dragging himself to stool next to Xiumin.  
  
"X?" he monotoned, gesturing to the bartender to give him the same drink.  
  
"Xiumin," Xiumin told him. "X-I-U—oh. Sorry."  
  
"Yeah," Luhan nodded, sipping his drink. "Why did you need me here?"  
  
"Well, I wanted you to have a drink before that."  
  
"What?" Luhan glanced at the boy. "Did you find out something?"  
  
Xiumin opened a sliver of his jacket, revealing a large yellow envelope inside.  
  
"Is that all... X?"  
  
"It's a lot of things," Xiumin sighed, closing up his jacket.  
  
Luhan swallowed down the rest of his drink, allowing it to burn as it went down his throat.  
  
"Let's go out back," Xiumin suggested.  
  
-  
  
"I contacted a few people and showed your sketch around, along with a few other things I'm not too proud of, but I got some answers," Xiumin explained, pulling out the envelope. "Just promise you'll remember why we're doing this. Revenge."  
  
Luhan nodded, taking the envelope in his hads.  
  
"I remembered what you and Baekhyun had explained about an awful smell and I checked out some places. Go ahead, open it."  
  
Luhan opened up the envelope hesitantly then pulled out a stack of images. The first was that of an old rusted building plagued with graffiti and dust.  
  
"You were taken on Soo Road and Baekhyun was taken at Yeol Street, right? Well, it just so happens that those two streets are both a half an hour away from that building—an ambandoned waste filtration facilty. The company that owned it bailed two years ago and left behind hundreds of workers who were left unemployed. So then I dug further." Xiumin removed the photo, revealing another one.  
  
"T-That's—"  
  
"Kim Jun Hye, correct. The facility was owned by Go Industries before they decided to upgrade and shut down without warning. It didn't even make the news."  
  
"So Suho's father is involved in this?"  
  
"Well, he was one of the CEO's to finalize the decision, yes. Here," Xiumin removed the photo, revealing another one.  
  
"That's Jun Hye visiting the building just a few days ago. Turns out several of my connections have eyes on him."  
  
"A few days ago?" Luhan examined the photo.  
  
"He was totally alone, which is rare for a CEO in his social class. My guy says he went inside for hours and finally came out before sunset. In the next picture you'll see him exiting the building."  
  
And Luhan did after removing the photo on top. "Was this.... the day X took Baekhyun?"  
  
"No idea," Xiumin shrugged. "My guy is articulate but unorganized. Weird, I know, but he's good."  
  
"Does he know who X is?"  
  
"His focus is Jun Hye, but he did say he saw an old car by the building once. Only once though, months ago."  
  
Luhan sighed, feeling knots tighten his stomach.  
  
"I'm assuming X was an employee at the waste facility, and went crazy after losing his job. But, I don't see why these rapes would be vengeance against Jun Hye."  
  
"Maybe it's not," Luhan suggested. "Maybe they're working together."  
  
Xiumin shrugged. "That's not all. I found some people who were also taken by X."  
  
"What?" Luhan breathed. He'd thought he'd never find other victims.  
  
"In the next few pictures you'll see their scars. They all say the same thing, Han: taken on the street, knocked out, brought to a smelly place, violated, and returned to the same place they were taken, all in a day."  
  
"Maybe he wants to return them before their loved ones worry," Luhan murmured, flicking through images of X-shaped scars.  
  
"Luhan..." Xiumin trailed. The boy stopped at the last image in the stack. That of Suho, standing in some empty club, lifting his shirt to reveal an X on his pale hip.  
  
"S-Su—"  
  
"I remembered why your sketch looked familiar," Xiumin admitted. "Suho drew that face all the time."  
  
-  
  
"Suho?" the boy behind the bar asked. He'd been cleaning down the counter for opening when Xiumin and Luhan came in asking questions about the dancer.  
  
Xiumin nodded and the bartender looked down sadly.  
  
"S-Su..." he held a breath to keep from sobbing. "H-He's dead."  
  
Luhan bit his inner cheek, images from that night flashing back to his mind.  
  
"Yeah," Xiumin nodded, "we know that. We just have a few questions about him."  
  
The bartender looked up at him. "I don't know nothin'."  
  
Xiumin sighed, reaching into his pocket. "Listen, um...."  
  
"Lay. You can call me Lay."  
  
"Lay," Xiumin nodded, pulling out a card and handing it to the boy. "I'm not a cop. I'm a private investigator. No affiliation. I want to know just as much as you do."  
  
Lay looked over the card. He read the name then looked back up at Xiumin, eyes squinting. "I've seen you before… you met with Suho here a few times, right?"  
  
Luhan looked at Xiumin. Was his cover blown? Xiumin didn't seem fazed.  
  
"I have," the boy admitted. "We knew each other."  
  
"Did he know you're a PI?"  
  
Xiumin nodded. "He knew. But now he's gone and I want to know why. Can you help me out?"  
  
Lay veered his eyes to Luhan. "What about him?"  
  
"He—"  
  
"I was his boyfriend," Luhan said.  
  
Xiumin turned to him.  
  
"Really?" Lay's eyes widened. "He never told us he was seeing anyone. You were okay with his career?"  
  
"It was a polyamorous relationship."  
  
Lay nodded slowly, not really understanding what he meant but just going with it anyway.  
  
Xiumin cleared his throat. "Anyway, we need your help. I know Suho was a dancer here. And he had a very distinguishable scar on his lower hip. Do you know anything about that?"  
  
"Ah, the X?" Lay nodded, wiping down the inside of a glass. "I don't know too much about Suho since he was kinda shy. But I can refer you to someone who he was closest to here. Kai?!"  
  
The three moved their gazes to the boy practicing onstage next to them. The music stopped and he faced them, a hand moving to rest at his hip.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Come here!" Lay yelled.  
  
Luhan shifted uncomfortably. "Do you guys always communicate by yelling?"  
  
"I'm their boss so I pretty much only yell at them," Lay chuckled. "But we all love each other here."  
  
"You're the boss?" Xiumin asked him as Kai approached the bar.  
  
"When the real bossman isn't here, I am."  
  
"Hello," Kai sing-songed, leaning on the counter, right beside Xiumin.  
  
"They need your help," Lay told him.  
  
"Certainly," Kai smirked, looking Xiumin up and down. He then looked over at Luhan and gave him a once-over as well. "I'd be glad to help you two out."  
  
"Not that kind of help," Lay reached over and smacked his head. "It's about Jun Myeon."  
  
Kai frowned. "Suho?"  
  
"Yeah," Xiumin confirmed. "Can we ask you some questions?"  
  
"Sure," Kai murmured, turning away from them. "Follow me."  
  
They followed him to a table by the stage and sat down.  
  
"What do you want to know?" Kai mumbled, his previous smirk long gone.  
  
"Were you two close?" Luhan asked.  
  
Kai nodded solemnly. "We trusted each other."  
  
"Do you know much about how he died?"  
  
Kai leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Just that some assh*le slit his throat. And when I find that bastard, I'll make sure I do the same to him."  
  
Luhan swallowed.  
  
"Do you know about the scar on Suho's hip?" Xiumin asked, ignoring Kai's unknowing threat to his life.  
  
Kai raised an eyebrow. "The X? Why? Do you think that f-cker is the one that killed him?"  
  
"No," Xiumin corrected. "But you know about X?"  
  
"Of course I do. Half the guys here have that scar."  
  
Luhan gasped, but neither seemed to hear.  
  
"Suho was obsessed with that guy," Kai shook his head. "He drew him all the time and was always talking about how he'd find him one day. He even hired some private investigator to find him. Where he found the money, I have no idea."  
  
"What?!" Xiumin and Luhan said at the same time.  
  
"Yeah," Kai looked down sadly. "The poor guy never found him. My theory was that X found out, tracked him down, and killed him, but I saw in the paper today that the police say it's part of a string of murders by some guy that uses the same knife to kill people. With blood from all the victims."  
  
Luhan swallowed again, resisting the urge to look over at Xiumin and give anything away.  
  
"He's a sick, twisted bastar—"  
  
"Do you know who he hired?" Xiumin asked.  
  
Kai shook his head. "All I know is afterwords he was nervous about something and two days later he was dead."  
  
Xiumin sat back in his seat. He'd made a fatal mistake.  
  
"Uh," Luhan stuttered. "Do you know if he'd had contact with his father?"  
  
Kai laughed out loud. "His father? You're kidding right?"  
  
Luhan just stared.  
  
"No," Kai laughed. "His father hated him. Was disgusted by him. Biggest homophobe there is. He makes Westboro look like the girl scouts."  
  
"Oh," Luhan looked down.  
  
"Every time Suho even tried to make contact with his father he was sent to voicemail immediately. His father shunned him. Pretended he was never even born. Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if the c*nt did this to him. That f*cker..." Kai curled his fists.  
  
"That scar," Luhan started, "when did he get it?"  
  
"Mm.." Kai thought. "About a year ago."  
  
Then Luhan gasped loud enough for them to hear.  
  
"Is that relevant to something?" Kai asked, looking skeptically at Luhan.  
  
"It is," Luhan said, standing up. "Come on, Xiumin."  
  
"Xiumin?" Kai repeated, looking at the other boy. "You're Xiumin?!"  
  
The boy looked at him.  
  
"Suho..." Kai trailed. "After he hired the investigator, he was really nervous. He gave me something. Hold on."  
  
Luhan and Xiumin waited as Kai ran behind the stage and came back a few seconds later.  
  
"Here," the boy said, handing Xiumin a yellow envelope, similar to the one he had in his pocket hours ago. "He gave it to me the day before he was killed. He said if I found Xiumin, to give it to him. I guess that's you."  
  
"What is it?" Luhan wondered aloud.  
  
"I don't know," Kai said.  
  
"Thanks..." Xiumin mumbled, slipping the envelope into his jacket. He stood.  
  
"Oh, um," Kai bit his lip, looking at Luhan. "If you ever need a job, we'll gladly take you here."  
  
"He's good, thanks," Xiumin said, pulling the blushing Luhan away.  
  
-  
  
The ride back to Luhan's was silent, and the walk up to Luhan's apartment was wrapped in quiescent tension. As soon as they'd entered the apartment, Xiumin pulled out the yellow envelope and cut it open with one of his knives.  
  
"What do you think it is?" Luhan whispered, though he didn't have to—it was his apartment afterall.  
  
Xiumin said nothing, only pulled out the folded letter and image inside. He looked at the picture first, immediately recognizing the face it showed.  
  
Luhan was quiet as he reached out with trembling fingers to pick up the photo.  
  
Xiumin read the letter aloud.  
  
 _Xiumin -  
  
    If you're reading this that means Kai found you which also means you really killed me. I'm guessing the only reason you'd be getting information on me is that you want to know why I stole money from you? I may be wrong, but whatever the case, everything you need is here.  
  Firstly, it's important you know that I knew exactly what I was doing when I took that money. I knew my life was on the line, but I didn't care if it meant I knew who took me last year. I hired a private investigator yesterday. His alias is D.O. You may know him. Within a day he gave me everything I needed, which made him well worth the money I stole.  
  I told D.O. everything I could remember about about the man that took me last year. He brought me the photo I've attached and told me he was a Chinese immigrant by the name of Wu Yi Fan. He worked for Waste Pro, a public waste filtration place that was once owned by Go Industries. After they got shut down he went AWOL and that's when the kidnappings started. As you might remember, I was one of those kidnapped and raped by him last year. Or so I thought.  
  D.O. told me that one of his asosciates that watches my father has seen him frequently entering and leaving the old filtration place. Just today he was spotted entering an old beat up vehicle that was identified as Wu Yi Fan's car. This leads me to believe that he and my father are working together. After D.O. told me this, I was happy I stole your money. I was happy that I knew you and that you were smart and would figure it out. I was happy you'd be willing to kill me so I wouldn't have to kill myself. I am nervous but I am relieved that I don't have to live long knowing my own father raped me.  
  Xiumin, if you didn't know any of this yet—which I doubt—I can only ask you one last favor. I know it's risky, but please find these two men and avenge all of their victims who have to live every day with the X on their bodies reminding them of the worst day of their life. Please, Xiumin. It's selfish, but please avenge me. I've tried hard to forgive my father after what he's done to me but this time I can't. I'm ready to die for this.  
  If you need any more information, try to find D.O. I'm sure you have connections to get to him. And Xiumin, I'm sorry I didn't tell you or ask you to look into this for me. I just didn't know how. That sounds dumb, but I really didn't.  
  And Xiumin, if you're reading this, know it's alright that you killed me. If I cared, I wouldn't be writing this. And don't worry if I was scared when it happened. I was excited.  
  
\- Suho  
  
P.S. Thank you.  
P.S.S. For everything._  
  
-  
  
"Lu, have you seen this?" Baekhyun asked the boy as he stepped onto the street curb. He handed Luhan the newspaper. "They released Kim Jun Hye's son's name. Kim Jun Myeon. He went by Suho. Now I remember why he looked familiar. I worked with him when I was a dancer!"  
  
"Small world," Luhan uttered, looking at the more recent image of Suho. It was a basic, static photo of him smiling into the camera. Except his eyes didn't smile with his lips.  
  
"Crazy!" Baekhyun huffed. "It says his dad released a statement that he was devastated by the loss of youngest son and needs time from Go to recover from the 'tragic loss.' Says he won't stop until he finds the monster that killed his son, poor guy."  
  
"Yeah," Luhan muttered through his teeth. "Poor guy."  
  
"You know," Baekhyun suddenly remembered. "If I'm remembering right, he and Suho didn't talk. At all. In fact, I think they had some issues together."  
  
"Oh?" Luhan sounded, handing back the paper.  
  
"Yeah.." Baekhyun thought back. "You know what? Yeah, they didn't get along! Kim Jun Hye, like, banished his son from ever contacting him. I don't remember why though. Maybe because Suho was a dancer."  
  
"Yeah, maybe."  
  
"The police narrowed it down to some guy that uses the same knife to—"  
  
"How about we talk about something else?"  
  
"Oh," Baekhyun blushed shyly. "Sorry, I've just always loved crime shows and sh*t like that so this stuff really gets me, you know? But we can talk about something else. How are things with that guy?"  
  
"What guy?" Luhan looked at the boy.  
  
"You know," Baekhyun winked. "That guy you used to see. I still don't know who he is, but you guys were pretty serious until you broke up a few weeks ago."  
  
"Oh," Luhan looked away when Xiumin popped into his mind. "We're fine."  
  
"Fine?" Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. "That's it? Come on, Lu, give me something."  
  
"What do you want from me?"  
  
"You guys loved each other didn't you?"  
  
"More like distracted each other."  
  
"Oh, please," Baekhyun blew raspberries. "That look you got on your face whenever you had to go see him was the face of love. If it wasn't, I don't know what is."  
  
"Keep looking, Baek," Luhan told him. The latter smacked him in the arm.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Fine! Don't tell me," Baekhyun grumbled. "But whatever's going on it'll work out. You two are meant to be, okay?!"  
  
Luhan rolled his eyes.  
  
 _More like meant to kill the CEO of one of Korea's top manufacturing businesses._  
  
-  
  
"Make sure you get the expense reports to me by this afternoon. And don't forget to send someone out to Busan to get that estimate on the new project."  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
He signed one last paper before handing the folder to his assistant.  
  
"Sir," his assistant bowed. "You have that meeting with the other executives in twenty minutes."  
  
"Of course. Is the car ready?"  
  
"Waiting outside, sir."  
  
He nodded and followed his assistant outside where a black limousine waited in front of the building. The door was opened for him and he slipped inside.  
  
"What's the news on that old waste facility I told you about?"  
  
"It's scheduled for demolition tomorrow afternoon, sir."  
  
"Excellent," he sighed, relaxing a bit.  
  
"Reconstruction of the building is set for next week too, Mr. Kim. The board has approved of the recreation center idea."  
  
"Ah, perfect. It's all falling into place, huh, Mr. Oh?"  
  
"Oh, um," the young assistant blushed. "You can just call me Sehun, sir. If that's alright."  
  
"Sure," the man grinned, patting the boy's cheek softly.  
  
"Um," Sehun looked down shyly. "There have been loads of interview requests regarding your son's death, sir."  
  
"Decline them," the CEO spat, his warm smile now faded away. "Make something up about grieving. You know, like with the newspapers."  
  
"Yes, sir," Sehun nodded.  
  
The CEO straightened his tie instinctively as negative thoughts about his son came to mind.  
  
"That little..." he murmured under his breath. "Thinking he can just interrupt my life with this? I have things to do, don't I?"  
  
Sehun chose not to answer, only looked ahead.  
  
"You wouldn't do something like that to me, right Sehunnie?"  
  
"Of course not, sir," Sehun assured him.  
  
"That's right. You're a good boy, Sehunnie," Jun Hye nodded, patting the boy's knee. "A very good boy."  
  
Behind the limosine, sitting in a black Sedan was Xiumin, following the vehicles every turn.  
  
-  
  
 _"You're D.O.?" Xiumin had greeted as he sat adjacent to the child-faced boy sitting in the café.  
  
"Xiumin, I presume," the boy responded without looking up, his hand lifting to sip his coffee.  
  
"I must admit you look differently than I imagined."  
  
"As do you."  
  
Xiumin shrugged. "Fair enough. You're not an easy man to find."  
  
"I try to be the one to do the finding."  
  
Xiumin chuckled. He liked him already.  
  
"You're here about Kim Jun Myeon."  
  
Xiumin watched as D.O. finally caught his gaze and set down his coffee. "You two were fairly close. He gave you names of high-power executives that needed people dead, correct? And in return you provided protection from his tyrant father Kim Jun Hye, who tried numerously to hide his son from the public out of fear of word getting out his youngest son is a c*cksucker, hm?"_  
  
 _"I would argue that as correct."  
  
D.O. threw him a half-smile, fixing his posture and tossing the boy his newspaper.  
  
"What's this?"_  
  
 _"Bullsh*t lies about Kim Jun Hye grieving over his son. He claims he's trying tirelessly to find the boy's killer, when in reality he's been out and about working on projects for Go Industries and playing golf in his spare time. Not one tear was shed over Jun Myeon's death."  
  
"I'm not here for that bast*rd," Xiumin explained.  
  
"Oh, I know," D.O. nodded. "Jun Myeon's killer wants more information on Wu Yi Fan, doesn't he?"  
  
Xiumin sat back. "I'm not sure I like how much you know about me."  
  
D.O. chuckled. "If you want to know why I'm so good at what I do it's because I read behavior, and yours screams 'I killed Suho and I'd like to avenge him.'"  
  
Xiumin's expression went slack. "What's Wu Yi Fan's address?"  
  
"What, are you offended? That's no fun…"  
  
"The chink's address, what is it?"  
  
D.O. sat back. "The waste facility. He was poor when he immigrated here and he was dead poor when he lost his job. He lives in the sh*thole, that's why he always smells like sh*t."  
  
"And he's working with Jun Hye?"  
  
"That," D.O. sighed, "I don't know. Word on the street is the sh*thole is being demolished tomorrow, and I don't see why Jun Hye would demolish a place where he's doing his dirty work."  
  
"Perhaps Suho's death complicated things."_  
  
 _"You're not wrong," D.O. shrugged. "I'm sure the coroners found the scar on his hip by now. I suppose it's only a matter of time before the police get on it and start investigating."  
  
"Jun Hye wants to demolish the place before they can figure it all out and go in."  
  
"He'll probably build something else on top of the dump to really cover his tracks."  
  
"Cunning bast*rd," Xiumin slammed the table. Eyes veered towards them and he apologized quickly.  
  
"Calm down," D.O. whispered. "You have everything you need now. The place is going down tomorrow so I'm sure Jun Hye and Yi Fan will have one more soirée tonight. It's your call from now on."_  
  
 _Xiumin nodded, slipping on his sunglasses and standing up.  
  
"And Xiumin?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I'm not alright with this whole situation either. You make sure Luhan rips off Jun Hye's balls and shoves them down his throat."  
  
"Just how much do you know, D.O.?"  
  
"Enough."_  
  
-  
  
Luhan sat on a patch of grass near an entrance to the old waste facility. His phone was pressed to his ear and his eyes darted around for any sign of Wu Yi Fan.  
  
"He got out of a meeting thirty minutes ago," Xiumin's voice told him through the phone. "So far no activity. His guards are posted all over like little obediant dogs."  
  
"Nothing here either," Luhan told him. "Are you sure he didn't just sneak out?"  
  
Xiumin looked up through his car's window to the top of the building, where he'd seen Jun Hye sitting at his desk but now the spot was empty. "Wait a second... he's gone. He was just there."  
  
"You think he's on the move?" Luhan asked, looking to the other side of the building. Then he noticed something in the distance. A car. A car he hadn't noticed at first, parked right in the parking lot. "W-Wait Xiumin I see a car. I think it—"  
  
 _Bam._  
  
Everything went dark.  
  
-  
  
The air inside was thick and rotting with the putrid smell of decaying rodents and fetid waste. The scent alone was enough to jab Luhan awake and churn his stomach. He took time to adjust before remembering that he'd been outside watching for Wu Yi Fan before he'd felt a sharp blow to the head, much like the one he'd suffered a year ago.  
  
He tried to sit up before realizing he'd been tied up, like last year.  
  
"H-Hello?" he'd tried, tugging his arms in an attempt to break free from his restraints. He heard footsteps slowly get closer. He couldn't see a thing as per the electricity being shut off when the place was abandoned. He had only his hearing to use.  
  
The footsteps stopped in front of him, and he could smell the man standing in front of him. He thought he might tear up from the odor he'd given off. The man sighed audibly, but not a threatening sigh, more like the sigh of a man who was just simply done.  
  
"Why would you come here..." he'd mumbled in Chinese. Luhan fought the adrenaline pumping through him and tried to find the man's face.  
  
"Y-You speak Chinese?" he tried, squinting hard to meet the man's eyes.  
  
"Yes," he responded, the word coming out excitedly. "You're Chinese?"  
  
Luhan nodded though the man probably couldn't see. His wrists slowly struggled against the ropes they were tied to. "You must be Wu Yi Fan."  
  
"H-How...?"  
  
"I've been looking for you," Luhan told him in their natural language.  
  
Yi Fan thought for a moment before finally recognizing the voice he'd heard. "Have you been here before?"  
  
"You took me, yes," Luhan spat. He writhed against the cold metal table beneath him.  
  
 _My phone... sh*t._  
  
Yi Fan sighed again, walking away from the table. Luhan heard him go around before there was a _clunk!_ and a dimly set tungsten light came on. Luhan blinked a few times before his eyes focused on the pair in front of him. The pair that had been burned into his dreams for a year.  
  
Yi Fan scanned his face, then his chest, then his legs and feet. Through his shock, Luhan could feel the gears turning in Yi Fan's head.  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
Luhan was frozen.  
  
"You were the first," Yi Fan admitted, the words rolling nonchalantly off his tongue.  
  
Luhan was frozen.  
  
Yi Fan ran a hand through his already messy hair as he took in the sight of the boy, only more attractive after a whole year. He looked sad for him.  
  
"Why do you have to look like that?" he asked him.  
  
Luhan was frozen.  
  
"Nothing good will come of this," he shook his head. He then stepped aside and pointed to the wall behind him. It was covered in polaroids of young men, just like Luhan, tied up to the very table he was tied to. The very first in the collection: Luhan. The last: Baekhyun.  
  
"Why did you come back here?!" Yi Fan yelled, causing Luhan to shutter back to reality. He looked at Yi Fan confusedly.  
  
"What are you talking about, you psycho?" he demanded, jutting out his legs in an attempt to free his feet.  
  
"One time wasn't enough for you?" Yi Fan asked, leaning in close. He took Luhan's chin between his fingers, causing Luhan to look him in the eyes. "Why would you come back? Why today? Do you have a death wish?"  
  
Luhan saw that what was in Yi Fan's eyes was not anger or arrogance but sympathy. Pity.  
  
"What...." he trailed.  
  
"He's going to kill you," Yi Fan whispered, his eyes glazing over.  
  
"Who? Who are you talking about?"  
  
Yi Fan let go of Luhan's chin. "If you know my name, you know who I work for."  
  
Luhan turned his gaze to the wall of pictures. All the boys there lied lifelessly on the table.  
  
"Kim Jun Hye."  
  
Yi Fan let a silence pass before placing his palms on either side of Luhan's cheeks. The boy refused to look up at him.  
  
"I wish I could let you go."  
  
"Why don't you?"  
  
"It's complicated," Yi Fan replied, a tear falling from his face.  
  
"I have time."  
  
He stepped away from Luhan, a hand reaching into his pocket before pulling out a brown wallet. Luhan watched as he opened up the wallet a took out a small picture.  
  
"This is my mother," he told him, holding up the image of the smiling middle-aged woman.  
  
"She's very pretty."  
  
"I left China so I could work here and get some money to pay for an operation that she needs. It's a brain tumor. Thankfully it's small and completely operable. But we don't have the money. Or didn't."  
  
"And you got a job here?"  
  
Yi Fan nodded, looking somberly down at the image. He brushed a thumb past the subtle face of his mother. "I got here illegally because I don't have any papers and time was limited. When Jun Hye found out, he just let me stay without a word. I didn't know why, and I really didn't care, as long as I got paid. And soon I was able to start sending money back home, until this place suddenly shut down."  
  
The tension in Luhan's shoulders relaxed as he listened to Yi Fan's soft, meloncholy voice.  
  
"I still remember the day it shut down, I was the last to leave because I had nowhere to go; This was where I ate, slept, and worked. I remember Jun Hye pulled me aside and started saying all these things."  
  
 _"Wu Yi Fan, you were by far the hardest worker here. I'm really sorry this has happened. You had so much potential."  
  
Yi Fan nodded weakly.  
  
"What are you going to do now?"  
  
"I don't know, sir," he mumbled, willing himself to stay calm.  
  
"Hm," Jun Hye tapped his chin. "You're not going back to China are you?"  
  
Yi Fan looked into his eyes.  
  
"Now you can't do that. You've got your mother to think about."  
  
"M-My moth—"  
  
Jun Hye chuckled. "I know a few things. Like that you, sir, don't appear to be here legally..."  
  
"I-I—"  
  
"Hush, Yi Fan," Jun Hye silenced him. "I have a deal I want to make with you. I think you'll comply."_  
  
Yi Fan put his wallet back into his pocket. "A few nights later we went around looking for someone. Anyone, just to see how this whole thing would work. I drove a car he'd given me and he hid in the back seat. That's when we saw you standing there alone. You had just put your phone away and I told Jun Hye you were probably drunk and to just find someone else, but he wanted you. He wanted you really badly."  
  
Luhan squirmed on the table, his eyes shutting momentarily.  
  
"After that night I couldn't stop thinking about you. When Jun Hye met with me again I told him about how guilty I felt and I said I'd rather be sent back to China then ever do it again. That's when he threatened my mother, saying he had plenty of men in Shanghai who could 'take care' of her."  
  
Luhan suddenly realized that he'd been crying silently for a while.  
  
"We kept taking people, and he paid me and allowed me to stay here. Before I knew it a year went by and his son suddenly died a few weeks ago."  
  
"Suho," Luhan let out in a choked sob. He couldn't hold in the guilt he felt for standing idly and watching the innocent boy die for nothing. No matter if he wanted to, he didn't deserve to and Luhan would be damned if he didn't at least try to avenge him.  
  
"No, it was Jun Myeon," Yi Fan told him. "He was killed in an apartment, and Jun Hye went balistic. Called the boy selfish and cursed him for interrupting his life. It was the weirdest thing. And then when the police opened an investigation he told me it was all over. That he's demolishing the place soon and that none of this will have ever happened. He told me he'd pay for my mother's operation and my trip back home if we go out one last time tonight. But then you came and ruined everything."  
  
"You really think he'll send you back home?!" Luhan yelled, slamming his fists against the cold table. "How stupid are you?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You idiot," Luhan cried. "You know too much; He's going to kill you and your mother."  
  
Yi Fan shook his head. "No, he wouldn't do that. She needs that operation. And she needs me. He's going to send me there after it's all over and I can finally see her again. Which means you have to stay here until it's over."  
  
"Look at that wall!" Luhan yelled. "The second picture, Yi Fan. The second fucking picture! Who is that?!"  
  
The man turned to the wall and looked at it. He gasped. "No, that... that can't be right."  
  
"It's Suho!"  
  
"N-No, that's—"  
  
"Jun Myeon, Suho, same person! You took him and Jun Hye fucking raped his own son. You think he's going to send you back to China knowing that?!"  
  
"I-I didn't know that was..."  
  
"You didn't but he did," Luhan told him. "He hated his son after he came out because he never had to balls to come out himself. He hated how free and happy his son was, so he went out and took young boys like him to take out his frustration on. He fucking branded us so we'd never forget it. Tell me, Yi Fan, if the roles were reversed, would you let Jun Hye off free knowing all that information?"  
  
Yi Fan stared at the picture of Suho on the wall before realizing that Luhan was completely right. Jun Hye was going to kill him.  
  
He ran to the table and began to untie the knots around Luhan's ankles.  
  
"How did I miss that?" he murmured frantically. "We have to get out of here. I'm so sorry for all of this. I'm sorry you were taken and I'm sorry Jun Hye—"  
  
"Don't talk. Just hurry."  
  
"Yes, hurry," a voice called from beyond their line of sight.  
  
Yi Fan froze and the two watched as Kim Jun Hye stepped into the dim tungsten light, dressed up in an expensive tuxedo amidst the rotting garbage of the abandoned facility.  
  
"Oh, don't let me stop you. Really, go on," he told them as his assistant, Oh Sehun, stepped up behind him along with another young man wearing glasses, both holding up their guns.  
  
Luhan was sure if he looked hard enough, he'd be able to see his heart beating out of his chest. Jun Hye was finally in front of him again.  
  
Yi Fan stood slowly, leaving the knot on Luhan's ankle half-undone.  
  
"What, giving up so soon?" Jun Hye chuckled. "Well, that's no fun."  
  
"Sir," Yi Fan said in his less natural Korean, his hands crossing over his stomach.  
  
"Still calling me that?" Jun Hye smirked. "Please, call me Jun Hye. It's the least you could do after all we've gone through together, don't you think?"  
  
Yi Fan said nothing, only looked down obediantely.  
  
"I must say that was all very impressive." Jun Hye stepped closer to the two. He smacked the side of Yi Fan's head before shifting his eyes to the boy tied up on the table beside them. Luhan looked up at the man challengingly, his eyebrows pulled together angrily. Slowly, he slipped his foot out a loop of rope.  
  
Sehun had his gun pointed to the boy, while the other boy pointed his gun to Yi Fan. Sehun took note of Luhan's attractiveness but pushed it aside for his boss.  
  
"Ah," Jun Hye tilted his head. "Lu Han."  
  
The boy stared back without so much as a blink. If looks could kill Jun Hye would be buried in his grave.  
  
"I've missed you," Jun Hye half-smiled, brushing a hand over Luhan's cheek. "How is that pr*stitution thing going?"  
  
Luhan spit in his face. Sehun cocked his gun.  
  
Jun Hye pulled out a hankerchief and wiped off his cheek. "Relax, Mr. Oh. We're only just getting started here."   
  
Jun Hye threw the hankerchief onto Luhan's chest. "You had it coming anyway."  
  
"Sir," Yi Fan started. "I found him outside looking around."  
  
Jun Hye turned to him. "I told you to stop calling me sir."  
  
"Sorry, si—um, Jun Hye."  
  
The man smacked him in the head again. Then again. And again until Yi Fan was on the floor cradling his head.  
  
"You were a good little dog, Yi Fan," Jun Hye told him, taking the gun from the other assistant's hands. "Obediant, easy to push around. It's a shame we can't work together again."  
  
"Maybe if I come to Korea again—"  
  
Jun Hye laughed, cocking the gun in his hands. "You still think you're getting out of here alive, don't you?"  
  
Yi Fan looked up at the man standing over him, positioning the gun to the center of his head. "M-My mother, sir."  
  
Jun Hye kicked him in the stomach. "Stop crying for your mommy. You and I both know exactly where she'll end up."  
  
"Please," Yi Fan breathed, clutching his stomach. "I did everything you asked. Please, just leave her."  
  
Jun Hye kicked his stomach again and again until he finally coughed up blood. "Are you really going to worry about her at a time like this? In your last moments?"  
  
Yi Fan struggled to lift his head before looking into the CEO's eyes. "She's all I Iive for, sir."  
  
Jun Hye scoffed before resting his index finger on the trigger. "You'll meet her soon enough."  
  
"NO!" Luhan screamed.  
  
 _Bam._  
  
Luhan squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to see another innocent man die.  
  
Jun Hye laughed and Luhan saw him hand the gun back to his other assistant. Luhan saw the assistant stare back at him before aiming his gun at him. Sehun, however, never left his focus from Luhan. "This place will be demolished and this guy will never have even existed."  
  
Jun Hye turned back to him and grinned. "Luhan, Luhan, Luhan. I've been watching you since we last met. I watch all my victims, but I've been especially watching you, my first."  
  
"Did you watch Suho?" Luhan spat.  
  
Jun Hye smacked him. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that."  
  
"Did you enjoy touching your own son?"  
  
Jun Hye said nothing as he stepped closer to the table. He looked Luhan up and down before laying his fingers at the hem of the boy's shirt before lifting it up all the way.  
  
"X marks the spot," he grinned, touching the scar on the boy's hip. Sehun looked at the old scar and it reminded him of the one etched in his own skin.  
  
Luhan felt his chest burn with anger as Jun Hye moved his hands further up his chest.  
  
"You're more fit than last time," he noted, nodding approvingly.  
  
"Practice for this day," Luhan told him, slowly slipping his foot out the final loop. Both his feet were out now.  
  
"You should be grateful for this X, hm?" Jun Hye said. "It's an honor to have one. Mr. Oh here's got one and he's proud of it. Right, Sehun?"  
  
"Yes, sir," Sehun nodded, not removing his eyes from Luhan's.  
  
"Show him your scar, Sehun," Jun Hye told him.  
  
Sehun nodded, putting his gun back into the holster before slipping off his blazer and unbottoning the white shirt underneath.  
  
"Isn't he handsome, Luhan?" Jun Hye asked, leaning down to Luhan's level at the table. "Wouldn't you love to get to know him?"  
  
"You're sick."  
  
Sehun unbottoned the last button and opened up his shirt to reveal his chest and stomach. At the corner of his hip was a red X, still sort of fresh.  
  
"Don't you love that X, Sehun?" Jun Hye asked him.  
  
"I do, sir," Sehun nodded.  
  
"Come over here, son."  
  
Sehun followed his orders and walked over to the table and stood in front of him. Jun Hye took his hand and placed it on Luhan's scar.  
  
"It's like you're connected, isn't it?" Jun Hye asked him. Luhan almost didn't register as he and the other assistant had been staring each other down for minutes.  
  
"It is, sir," Sehun giggled.  
  
Jun Hye chuckled along with him. "Luhan is very handsome, isn't he, Sehun?"  
  
Sehun looked at the boy on the table before biting his bottom lip. "He is, sir."  
  
"Do you like him?"  
  
Luhan saw the other assistant lower his gun and smile.  
  
"I do, sir."  
  
"Why don't you give him a little kiss then?"  
  
Luhan finally shifted his eyes to the blonde boy hovering over him. The boy was undeniably attractive but he clearly had issues if he was willing to take such commands after a man just got shot by his CEO boss.  
  
Regardless, Sehun leaned down and pressed his lips against Luhan's for a moment before pulling away.  
  
"That's right," Jun Hye nodded. "Now, why don't you—"  
  
"Alright, I think that's enough," the other assistant said. The CEO and Sehun looked to him. "I can't join in?"  
  
"Excuse me?" Jun Hye said, standing straight.  
  
"Come on, boss, he's so hot. I want to kiss him too."  
  
Luhan suppressed a laugh as Jun Hye stepped aside to let Xiumin approach the table. Sehun moved aside and he was able to hover over Luhan so that they were nose-to-nose.  
  
"Can I kiss you?" Xiumin asked him. His hands rested at the knots on Luhan's wrists, undoing them slowly so Jun Hye and Sehun wouldn't notice.  
  
"Do I have a choice?"  
  
"Guess not," Xiumin said before whispering, you're good. Luhan closed his eyes and Xiumin pressed their lips together, kissing the boy like he was cold glass of water on a hot summer's day. And Luhan kissed back, letting the familiar taste of Xiumin invade his mouth and give him strength.  
  
"I knew you would enjoy it," Jun Hye told him. "They always enjoy it once they just accept it. Go ahead and join them, Sehun."  
  
The blonde boy leaned over to them and replaced his asosciate's lips with his, kissing Luhan hungrily. Caught up in the haze, he didn't noticed when Luhan's hand slipped from the knots and grabbed his gun from out of the holster. The click of the gun cocking woke him from his daze.  
  
"What—" Jun Hye started but the barrel of Xiumin's gun was pressed against his forehead.  
  
"Did you think I would come alone?" Luhan asked him, chuckling at the shocked expression on Sehun's face.  
  
-  
  
 _Xiumin looked up through his car's window to the top of the building, where he'd seen Jun Hye sitting at his desk but now the spot was empty. "Wait a second... he's gone. He was just there."  
  
"You think he's on the move?" Luhan asked. "W-Wait Xiumin I see a car. I think it—"  
  
The line was suddenly cut off.  
  
"Hello?" Xiumin spoke. "Han?"  
  
He felt a tap at the window and rolled it down.  
  
"All ready?" A blonde boy had asked him, a boy who he'd later learn was Oh Sehun.  
  
"Yep, tell Mr. Kim the car's all set. Where are we off to?" he smiled brightly, the unfamiliar feeling hurting his face.  
  
"Some abandoned factory or something. Here's the directions," he handed him a paper with turn-by-turn directions.  
  
"Can't I just use a GPS?"  
  
"He says he doesn't want to leave a digital trail or something."  
  
"Weird," Xiumin said before fastening his seatbelt. He slipped on a pair of glasses with a tiny camera and recorder.  
  
"Yeah, but that's just him," Sehun smiled to himself before running back up to the stairs to walk the CEO down.  
  
When they'd arrived at the factory they waited in a hallway where they could hear two men speaking Chinese. They'd all had lessons for Chinese so a good portion of their conversation was understood. Xiumin knew which voice was Luhan's.  
  
"Boss, is it true one of them was your son?" Sehun had asked.  
  
"I thought I told you not to ask any questions?"  
  
When they finally got inside Xiumin examined Wu Yi Fan and unfortunately he died, but afterwords he was finally able to make eye contact with Luhan and see if he was alright, which he was besides the fact that he'd been crying. Then Jun Hye began his "last soirée" and Xiumin had to cut in._  
  
-  
  
"Did you have to wait until Wu Yi Fan got shot? Or for Sehun to kiss me?" Luhan asked Xiumin as they finished tying up Jun Hye and Sehun.  
  
"I had to wait until Jun Hye was distracted and Sehun's guard was down," Xiumin explained. "Element of surprise."  
  
"You sure you didn't just want to kiss me?"  
  
"Maybe that too."  
  
Luhan looked at Yi Fan's lifeless figure lying on the floor, drying blood pooled around his head. He kneeled down and shut his eyelids.  
  
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You idiot."  
  
"Just what are you planning to do to me?" Jun Hye demanded from the floor. "I'm the CEO of Go Industries, do you think you can harm me without being punished?"  
  
"Why do you think you're being punished?" Xiumin asked him, adjusting his glasses.  
  
Jun Hye scoffed. "Is this about Jun Myeon?"  
  
"You can't even call him your son," Xiumin chuckled.  
  
"He doesn't deserve to be called my son. A vile monster like him shouldn't even be called human."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He's a dirty animal," Jun Hye explained. "Going on dates with men and exposing himself in clubs?"  
  
"He only danced because you cut him off completely," Xiumin told him, urging himself to stay calm because this kill was Luhan's. "Where do you go when your family abandons you?"  
  
"What, were you his boyfriend or something? You're just as disgusting."  
  
"What's going on?" Sehun asked them. "What is this? What is he talking about, sir?"  
  
"Hush, Sehun," Jun Hye glared at him.  
  
"Sehun," Xiumin turned to the boy. "Are you gay?"  
  
Jun Hye laughed.  
  
"What do you mean?" Sehun murmured. "Is that a come-on?"  
  
"No, it's a question," Xiumin told him. "After what just happened back there I think it's safe to assume you like boys, don't you think?"  
  
"No," Sehun shook his head. He turned his head to look at Jun Hye. "I like whoever boss tells me to."  
  
"Just like he basically told you to like Luhan?"  
  
"I can't control who Mr. Oh is attracted to," Jun Hye told Xiumin.  
  
"Hm. Just like you can't control who your son was attracted to."  
  
"Boss can do anything he wants," Sehun defended him. " _Anyone_ he wants."  
  
Xiumin saw Luhan stand from where'd been crouched over Yi Fan and smack Sehun.  
  
"Why is it okay for your boss to take boys and rape them but it's not okay for Suho to simply like boys?" Luhan moved to Jun Hye, grabbing him by his tux's collar. "What makes you think that's right?"  
  
"I do guys like you a service," Jun Hye spat. "After I'm through with you you'll feel so disgusted you'll never touch another boy again. Every time you see the X you'll remember me and erase any thoughts you had to f*ck other men."  
  
They stared in each other's eyes for a second before Luhan felt his hands wrap around his throat and choke him. "Who the f*ck do you think you are?!"  
  
"Han," Xiumin spoke, but he didn't listen.  
  
"Stop it!" Sehun screamed. "You're going to kill him!"  
  
"Luhan!" Xiumin called before pulling the boy away from Jun Hye.  
  
"Let go of me!" Luhan yelled in Xiumin's arms.  
  
"I did Jun Myeon a favor," Jun Hye panted. "I cleaned him up so that he would turn around and realize his mistake."  
  
"Clean him up?!" Luhan yelled. "He wanted to _die_ because of you! All of us with this X want to die because of _you_."  
  
"Good! You should all be wiped clean from this earth!" Jun Hye fought.  
  
"Just don't bother the boss, please," Sehun cried. "He knows best. Please don't bother him."  
  
"Han," Xiumin breathed, letting the boy go. He took off his glasses and turned to Jun Hye. "These glasses have been recording everything. Tomorrow morning this moment will be all over the news."  
  
" _No_ ," Jun Hye gasped, looking at the glasses in horror.  
  
"Yep," Xiumin nodded. "Even if you were able to break free and crush them, they're streaming to a laptop far away from this place."  
  
"You're finished," Luhan told him, crouching to level with Jun Hye's eyes. "Suho asked to be avenged from you before he died. I've thought about whether I should just kill you or have you rot in prison knowing the whole world knows the truth about you. And honestly, both are too easy."  
  
"Please don't bother the boss!" Sehun cried.  
  
Xiumin reached into his blazer and pulled out a sharp knife, already stained with blood. He handed it to Luhan and the boy gladly accepted.  
  
"What are you going to do?" Jun Hye breathed, his voice trembling with fear.  
  
Luhan pressed the blade to Jun Hye's cheek before slicing a big O into it. Jun Hye screamed as blood began to trickle down his face.  
  
"Stop it!" Sehun screamed. Xiumin picked up the hankerchief that had been lying on the ground and stuffed it in the boy's mouth. Sehun shut his eyes, unable to see his beloved boss get cut into.  
  
"An O for every X you drew," Luhan told him. He unbuttoned the CEO's blazer and shirt and began carving O's into his skin, basking in every pained scream the man let out. When his chest was covered in blood, Xiumin left the room before coming back with a red-hot branding iron and a small coal-burning grill.  
  
"These cuts aren't good enough, wouldn't you agree, Xiumin?"  
  
Xiumin smiled at him, growing accustomed to this new side of Luhan that he'd never met before. It thrilled and aroused him all at once.  
  
"Please..." Jun Hye whispered, growing languid from the loss of blood and from the shock.  
  
"Hm, what was it you said when I said please?" Luhan thought. "'Just relax, this is to help you.'"  
  
"Okay, okay," Jun Hye acquiesced. "I'll admit my methods were—"  
  
Luhan pressed the hot iron against the carved O in his cheek.  
  
"OKAY!" Jun Hye yelled, his cheek giving off smoke from the immense heat. "I lied! I'm sick! I'm very sick. I used innocent boys to deal with my own sickness."  
  
Luhan pressed the iron across another O.  
  
" _F*ck_ ," Jun Hye gritted his teeth. "I... I made a terrible mistake."  
  
"Go on," Xiumin told him, slipping his glasses back on.  
  
"I...." Jun Hye sighed, looking into the camera. "I was jealous of my _son_ , Kim Jun Myeon. I always admired how free he was, how comfortable. And when he confided in me about being gay I let him down because I was too worried about politics and social status to ever even dream about coming out. It sickened me how happy he was and how easy it was for him to come out and so I shunned him. I soon developed these urges that I couldn't control anymore. I needed to release them so I convinced the board to shut this place down so I could have a place to release these urges. I blackmailed Wu Yi Fan into working for me and together we captured over fifty boys where we brought them here and I did unspeakable things to them, along with branding them with an X afterwords. My son, Jun Myeon, was the second boy we took. After the first"—Jun Hye glanced at Luhan—"I couldn't control myself so I took him and after that I just couldn't stop. When Jun Myeon was killed I was angry I couldn't do it anymore, when in reality I couldn't cope with the fact that I'd shunned and violated my youngest son out of petty jealousy. And for all of that I'm deeply sorry."  
  
Xiumin slipped off his glasses and put them in his pocket. Luhan dropped the iron bar into the grill.  
  
"He's lying!" Sehun mumbled against the hankerchief in his mouth. "He wouldn't do that!"  
  
"It's the truth," Jun Hye told him. "Well, except that last part."  
  
"What?" Luhan looked at him.  
  
"All of that was true," Jun Hye nodded. "Except the last part about being sorry."  
  
"Don't listen to him, Han," Xiumin told the boy crouched before the CEO. "He just wants you to get worked up so you'll kill him."  
  
"That may be the case," Jun Hye grinned, "but I'm still not sorry. I still got my way. Luhan here still has to live everyday with that scar. His little buddy Baekhyun still has to live with that scar. All of them still have the scar and the memory of me attached to them forever. Jun Myeon's body still has the scar burned into him until be decomposes in dirt."  
  
"Jun Hye?" Luhan said, just inches from the man's face.  
  
"Luhan?"  
  
"You win."  
  
"What?" Jun Hye and Xiumin said at the same time.  
  
"You win," Luhan nodded. "I will have this scar forever, and so will Baekhyun, and all the other boys you took. And I will remember the night you took me until I die. But I can proudly kiss Xiumin and make love to him without feeling the least bit guilty for it. Can you say that about Sehun?"  
  
The blonde was crying and his sobs were muffled by his boss' hankerchief in his mouth.  
  
Luhan beckoned the blushing Xiumin over to him and they both held the bloodied knife in their hands. Together.  
  
"Wait!" Jun Hye screamed before Luhan and Xiumin inserted the knife into the O located over Jun Hye's heart. Together, they watched Jun Hye struggle around the blade before the life left his eyes and he went slack. Sehun was so overwhelmed he passed out from shock.  
  
Luhan couldn't describe the feeling that came over him upon seeing Jun Hye finally dead, and at his hands too. Almost like a boulder had been lifted from his shoulders after holding it for a year. And that feeling was multiplied when Xiumin reached over and touched his cheek, pressing their lips together.  
  
"Luhan," he said when they reluctantly parted. "I know why I can't kill you."  
  
"Why?" Luhan asked, touching the boy's cheeks.  
  
"You can't kill someone you love."  
  
"I thought you didn't love anyone?" Luhan smiled as their foreheads pressed together.  
  
"You're not just anyone, are you?"  
  
  
\|/  
  
  
  
  
"Lu, have you _seen_ this?!" Baekhyun ran after the boy when he'd stepped onto the curb for the last time. He flailed a newspaper in his hand as another man ran after him.  
  
"No, what is it?" Luhan laughed as Xiumin held his hand tighter. He'd never met any of Luhan's friends before.  
  
"Two words: _Cray. Zee_ ," Baekhyun panted as the other boy finally caught up. "Kim Jun Hye is dead! Last night all the big news places recieved a video of his 'execution' and he confessed to the kidnapping and molestation of over fifty guys including his own son and—guess who!"  
  
"Who?" Luhan smiled as he looked at the PG-13 images of the crime scene.  
  
"Us!" Baekhyun jumped. " _Us_. X was Kim Jun Hye, can you believe that?!"  
  
"You were a victim of this guy?" The boy that had been with Baekhyun said. "I'll kill—oh, wait. Haha."  
  
Baekhyun smacked his arm. "Yeah, right in this very spot just a few weeks ago. And so was Luhan like a year ago. Crazy. I think im going to throw up knowing that old bag touched me."  
  
"At least he's dead," Xiumin managed to say.  
  
"Yeah," Baekhyun nodded. "He was supposed to administer the demolition of this old shit factory and when they went inside they found him tied up and dead on a metal table. And get this: he had gash marks in the form of O's all over him. Like how he branded the X's on his victims! X and O? Crazy! And they found one of his men hugging his dead body and crying about bothering his boss. The doctors said he was Oh Sehun, a guy that went missing as a kid and had developed Stockholm syndrome after Jun Hye found him and kept him. Said Jun Hye probably brainwashed him or something to follow all his commands and only love him ever. Crazy."  
  
"Wild," Luhan shook his head and gave the paper back to Baekhyun.  
  
"My guess is one of the victims went back and killed Jun Hye. In the videos they like censored out some names and blurred someone out so that's probably him. The police are opening an investigation."  
  
"I hope they find him so I can give him a big hug," the guy behind Baekhyun said.  
  
Baekhyun nodded. "Yeah. F*cking badass. Whoever he is, he's my hero!"  
  
"Me too," Xiumin told him, sliding a hand around Luhan's waist. Luhan looked away shyly.  
  
"Oh, wait!" Baekhyun exclaimed. "You must be that guy Luhan was seeing! I'm Baekhyun, this is Chanyeol, some guy I've been seeing."  
  
"More like the love of his life," Chanyeol corrected, shaking Xiumin's hand. When the two boys made eye contact they'd immediately recognized each other.  
  
"We'll see," Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "Yeollie, this is my BFF Luhan, and...."  
  
"Xiumin," Xiumin said. "You own Park's Bar don't you?"  
  
 _You're a mole for the police aren't you?_  
  
"It's a family business," Chanyeol told him, extending eye contact for a little longer before shifting his gaze to Baekhyun. Luhan looked at Xiumin questioningly before shrugging it off.  
  
"Family _shmamily_ , he still gives me free drinks."  
  
"I knew you only liked me for the free alcohol."  
  
"Of course!"  
  
Luhan laughed before stating that they had to go soon.  
  
"What's the rush?" Baekhyun asked as Chanyeol threw an arm over his shoulder.  
  
"Well, this is actually the last time I'll be coming here," Luhan admitted. "I think it's time to move on."  
  
"Actually, me too," Baekhyun told him. "Yeollie wants me to work at his bar instead of out here. Lot safer."  
  
"Speaking of, let's all have a round on me, hm?" Chanyeol offered. They couldn't resist a round of free drinks, and somehow one round turned into two turned into three turned into a night of meaningless enjoyment and a happy goodbye.  
  
  
  
  
\|/ \|/ \|/  
  
  
They walked down the wet streets together, holding hands and checking out the little shops and markets along the sidewalks. Xiumin fed him dumplings like the little cliché romantic he denied being, but Luhan didn't mind one bit as they made their way closer to row of small, one-room houses.  
  
"You sure it's this neighborhood?" Luhan asked him, checking out the dark, run-down houses.  
  
"It's the address D.O. gave me," Xiumin said, which basically meant: Yeah, it's definitely right.  
  
Luhan found the number and approached the front door. Since there was no doorbell, he knocked on the door.  
  
"I'll wait out here," Xiumin told him.  
  
"Oh, okay," Luhan nodded, giving him a kiss before the door opened to reveal a woman without hair and a wearing smile.  
  
"Can I help you?" she asked politely.  
  
"Mrs. Wu? My name is Luhan. I was a friend of Yi Fan."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
 **a/n: omg...whoooaaa its over... welp its 5:26 am so I should sleep but I wanted to say thank you to all of u crazy people that actually ready all three parts? I know part 1 was rushed but i plan to go back and fix it. part 2 was kind of the 'everything is unfolding' and part 3 is just the big over dramatic wrap-up haha  
also i wanna give a shoutout to the person that inspired me to start this even though it started as a joke about xiumin murdering people: lizzy! yoyoyo!  
also one more thing before i shut up, i enjoyed writing this so f*cking much like it was literally a journey but also really fun (see: stayed up all night writing!) i really think I'll write a sequel to this real soon (like probably start on christmas lol how sad) and also i just can't get enough of xiumin's character and how badass luhan is like slide over here ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)  
anyways thank you again and keep ur banana's peeled for a (very) possible sequel (i even left little cliffhangers there that I can use to pick up with) huehuehue bye!!!~ ((((up vote??? comment??? it lets me know if people liked it and if i should even bother with a sequel!! pls and thank you!!!))))**


	4. trailers

since this fic has 2.9k views (on aff) i now have two trailers!!! the first one is by me (my first video trailer ever so sorry it's all choppy and fast paced) and the second one is cortesy of NOLZA21! thank you nolza and i hope you guys like the trailers :'-) ♥

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/GyftlrOAsXA

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ic7YLZhfn4o


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